Brake Pads - Original or Other

[Clan]

Volvo put a great deal of effort in developing their brake pads to work with their cars and callipers and discs , they just " work" as you would expect ...and have a reasonable life .. Even the callipers are fine tuned with mass dampers on them for noise suppression Why would anyone want to fit materials NOT developed and tested on the car for noise , life and vibration etc ... I didn't think volvo drivers were penny pinchers short of money

[JGEM]

As someone who drives a soon to be 12 year old XC60 with highish mileage I freely admit to being a penny pincher. Volvo spares prices are excessive as are the dealer labour rates, so I keep my soon to be 12 year old car on the road with DIY where possible.

Whilst I take on board your comments about how Volvo brake pads are optimised for the application, the reality is that disc brakes have been around since the 1950s and are not rocket science. A friction material from a non Volvo source may be not 100% optimised but is still plenty good enough to do the job and does so much more cost effectively. Bosch and the other major brake pad manufacturers are not in the business of killing people and make products that are fit for purpose. (In another life I was a mechanical engineer so I do have a few clues in this regard)

I can make an analogy with audio systems. I have friends / relations who are audio enthusiasts and spend thousands on their systems for a fractional difference in sound that to the average listener would be undetectable. They have the money and it's their thing so good luck to them, but the vast majority of us happily get by with sub optimal sound systems.

My XC60 brakes with Bosch pads may be sub optimal but they are cost effective, do the job and have caused me no issues (apart from the previously mentioned random squeak.) For half the price of Volvo pads I can live with the odd squeak - it's the sound of my money being saved!

[Clan]

Originally Posted by JGEM

As someone who drives a soon to be 12 year old XC60 with highish mileage I freely admit to being a penny pincher. Volvo spares prices are excessive as are the dealer labour rates, so I keep my soon to be 12 year old car on the road with DIY where possible.

Whilst I take on board your comments about how Volvo brake pads are optimised for the application, the reality is that disc brakes have been around since the 1950s and are not rocket science. A friction material from a non Volvo source may be not 100% optimised but is still plenty good enough to do the job and does so much more cost effectively. Bosch and the other major brake pad manufacturers are not in the business of killing people and make products that are fit for purpose. (In another life I was a mechanical engineer so I do have a few clues in this regard)

I can make an analogy with audio systems. I have friends / relations who are audio enthusiasts and spend thousands on their systems for a fractional difference in sound that to the average listener would be undetectable. They have the money and it's their thing so good luck to them, but the vast majority of us happily get by with sub optimal sound systems.

My XC60 brakes with Bosch pads may be sub optimal but they are cost effective, do the job and have caused me no issues (apart from the previously mentioned random squeak.) For half the price of Volvo pads I can live with the odd squeak - it's the sound of my money being saved!

You would be surprised how reasonable volvo spares are compared to other makes ! Ford Citroen Renault for example are quite a bit more , Would you pay £200 for a ford 2.0D rear crankshaft seal ? Or £60 for a pair of CItroen wiper blades ?

[Deck1ng]

Having just looked on internet, a set of Mintex £22, a set from Juratec £19.50. Not exactly a fortune. But my philosophy is, I drive a volvo, so I buy volvo spares, that to me is the cost of running a nice car. I don’t use a volvo dealer to do the work, when I fill up with fuel, I put some in, not just a £5 worth. When I can’t afford volvo spares or afford to fill the tank, I will know I can no longer afford to drive this car and it will go in exchange for a Fiat punto or similar.
That is my opinion and no insult to anyone intended and I hope none was taken.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Clan

You would be surprised how reasonable volvo spares are compared to other makes ! Ford Citroen Renault for example are quite a bit more , Would you pay £200 for a ford 2.0D rear crankshaft seal ? Or £60 for a pair of CItroen wiper blades ?

.....and the Ford stuff is mostly SH*T.

Just changed the aux belt tensioner and idler on my 110k Ford Ranger 2.2D - old ones had play. New ones have just as much play.... bye bye £145.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Deck1ng

Having just looked on internet, a set of Mintex £22, a set from Juratec £19.50. Not exactly a fortune. But my philosophy is, I drive a volvo, so I buy volvo spares, that to me is the cost of running a nice car. I don’t use a volvo dealer to do the work, when I fill up with fuel, I put some in, not just a £5 worth. When I can’t afford volvo spares or afford to fill the tank, I will know I can no longer afford to drive this car and it will go in exchange for a Fiat punto or similar.
That is my opinion and no insult to anyone intended and I hope none was taken.

I think that was a well thought out post, and if any offence was taken - it was just that - i.e. taken and not given.

[Bashy]

I am a low budget user, I either didnt realise or totally forgot how expensive Volvos are to run, which is quite a surprise considering i had an S70 T5, a C70 T5 GT and an S80 T6 many moons back, so when i bought this V70 D5 185, i didnt expect it to do around 26mpg, was more like expecting about 40, i also dont remember the parts being expensive either, perhaps they were, any hoo, with that in mind, i will endeavour to fit budget where possible, except for the pads, these where Volvo from eBay, discs were budget though, not warped, as yet....... Just bought a starter motor new for £70+, it also needs Control arms, these too will budget, they say, buy cheap, pay twice, well, i can live with that in this case

[JGEM]

I suspect parts pricing in the UK is much more competitive than it is in NZ.

Here's a comparison of front pads plus discs for my XC60 (all in NZ$)

Dealer: pads $268, pair of discs $615. Labour, 1 hour at $138
Aftermarket: pads $110, pair of discs $363

Total cost Dealer versus DIY. $1021 / $473

(Prices quoted for aftermarket include 10% discount as i use a friend's trade card). I guessed at dealer time of 1 hour, it could well be a little more.

The aftermarket pads are Bendix brand and the discs are a Chinese brand called Techstop which one of the major parts resellers carries

I have Techstop discs on the front at the moment. I carefully scrutinised the machining and checked the runout with a dial gauge when fitted and no issues. The discs have been fine for the last 30,000km or so. In fact, they seem harder wearing than the Volvo discs which are very soft

If I had the money then I would definitely prefer to use Volvo brand parts but I have to adjust to my financial realities. I do have standards though, and will never use no name brake pads or used tyres, which are both ways i see other folk saving even more $

Not all Volvo owners are well off, and as more and more of the first generation XC60s drop into the 10 year plus age bracket they will be owned by people who can't necessarily afford to spend $$$ at the Volvo dealer or use Volvo branded parts.

The way I see it there are 4 tiers of Volvo owner

Tier 1 - car under warranty, dealer serviced
Tier 2 - car outside warranty, dealer serviced
Tier 3 - car outside warranty, non dealer serviced
Tier 4 - car outside warranty - owner serviced (where possible)

Tiers 3 and 4 may use Volvo parts or aftermarket alternatives, so the lowest in the hierarchy are people like myself in Tier 4 using non Volvo parts.